Don’t You (Forget About Joe Flacco)

Since entering the league in 2008, Joe Flacco has been the definition of consistency. He started all 16 games in his first seven NFL seasons. A streak snapped last year thanks to a season-ending torn ACL injury suffered in Week 11.

From a 2QB perspective, Flacco has been a consistent mid-range QB2 to low-end QB1. Here are his fantasy totals, year-by-year:

2008 – Fantasy QB17 – 183.14 Fantasy Points

2009 – Fantasy QB18 – 206. 12 Fantasy Points

2010 – Fantasy QB10 – 231.28 Fantasy Points

2011 – Fantasy QB17 – 202.60 Fantasy Points

2012 – Fantasy QB14 – 234.88 Fantasy Points

2013 – Fantasy QB19 – 207.58 Fantasy Points

2014 – Fantasy QB13 – 262.44 Fantasy Points

After eight weeks of the 2015 NFL season, Flacco was the overall fantasy QB10 with 129.64 fantasy points. He was only 8.18 fantasy points behind Aaron Rodgers for the QB7 spot. That QB10 ranking saw him exceed his August redraft 2QB ADP, where he was being drafted as the QB16.

Receiving QB1 fantasy production out of your QB2 is one way to field a consistently winning squad in 2QB fantasy football leagues. Of the ten games he did play, Flacco was a fantasy QB1 (top-12) five times, which was more than Andrew Luck (4), Jameis Winston (5), Jay Cutler (4), Matt Ryan (4), and Peyton Manning (1), to name a few.

Only twice out of his ten starts last season did Flacco finish outside of the QB2 (top-24) tier. One of those games was against the vaunted Broncos defense, and the other was the Week 11 game he got injured. Flacco scored 20 or more fantasy points in a game five times last year, flashing a high-end QB1 floor.

Starting his 2015 campaign by scoring less than one fantasy point (0.68, to be exact) against the Broncos in Week 1 and finishing it with an early season-ending injury in Week 11 means Flacco will go overlooked in 2QB drafts this summer.

It was mentioned earlier how last season Flacco was going off the board as the QB16. It’s doubtful he’ll go higher than that in drafts this year, especially coming off an injury-shortened season. The cumulative TwoQBs redraft staff rankings for Flacco currently has him at 23.5. I’m the highest on him at 22, with Anthony Amico the lowest at 25. That’s low-end QB2 territory.

Obviously we don’t represent the majority of 2QBers, but that gives you some indication of Flacco’s current standing in the deep quarterback well. If upcoming 2QB drafts have Flacco selected near the bottom of the QB2 tier that means he’ll come at a reasonable price, which is something that would appeal to me, and should entice you as well.

The veteran Ravens signal caller will also play behind an offensive line that allowed the third fewest sacks (24) last season behind only the the Rams (18) and Jets (22). Baltimore holds the number six pick overall in the upcoming 2016 NFL draft, and some mock drafts have them linked to OT Ronnie Stanley out of Notre Dame, which would also be a plus for Flacco.

All of the above factors and his history as a consistent mid-range QB2/low-end QB1 makes Flacco a quarterback to target in 2QB drafts this summer, and his likely affordable ADP will make him that much more enticing.

Salvatore Stefanile is a member of the Fantasy Sports Writers Association (FSWA) and has been playing fantasy football since his high school days. He is a proponent of 2QB fantasy football leagues and his work has been featured on XN Sports, RotoViz, and Rotoworld. His writing on 2QB fantasy football leagues earned him the FSWA award for 'Best Fantasy Football On-Going Series' in 2013. He earned a second FSWA nomination in 2015. You can follow him on Twitter @2QBFFB